Yuff's Yorkshire Lesson
Now, although it's never stated where in the North Allen is from, for this loss he'll be from North Yorkshire because otherwise I'll be much less help than you might need.
Obviously, any written text is going to be in standard English, it's only when speaking that colloquialisms come to the fore (thankfully) so here are a few basic rules for 'speaking' in a North Yorkshire dialect.
Firstly, and most importantly, we love our glottal stops a ridiculous amount. For example; standard English might say:
I am going to school.
Whereas a glottal stop would take out the 'o' in 'to' and turn that into one word with a harsh break in the middle:
I am going t'school.
Or:
One of the men.
Becomes:
One o'men
This is a blanket rule, and applies generally for 'of', 'to' and 'the'. However, this rule now gets more complicated as these words are often emitted from certain sentences altogether. For example; standard English might say:
Catch the ball, then.
Whereas in North Yorkshire 'the' would be taken out completely, with perhaps the barest hint of a glottal stop before ball:
Catch 'ball, then.
Generally, if the word 'the' is in the middle of the sentence: 'Going to THE shops' or 'Variety is THE spice of life' then the word is omitted completely. If the word 'the' is at the start of the sentence then it is shortened to a glottal stop: 'Th'brother and sister' or 'Th'wedding bells chimed.'.
TEST ONE:
In a comment, reorder the following 5 phrases from standard English, to spoken North Yorkshire dialect.
Now there's the word replacement, which happens in one major case. 'Going' will often become 'off'.
So in standard English it would be:
I am going to the shops.
Then in a Northern dialect it would be:
I am off t'shops.
Those are a few of the basic speaking grammar rules of a North Yorkshire dialect, but now we come to the whole other words. The colloquialisms that go beyond the blanket ones of translating American-English to English-English (e.g. sidewalk/pavement or pants/trousers). I can by no means provide a complete list, but I've tried to give as many of the more common ones as I can think of (ones I would say most days, if not all the time):
STANDARDYORKSHIREYesAyeCup ofCuppaRiver/StreamBeckHotMithering / MitheredColdNithering / NitheredReally HotBreeding maggotsStop whiningThar's neither nowt ner summatSomethingSummatNothingNowtThatTharIsn't/Aren'tAin't (Ent)MyMeOh my GodEe Bah GumOh/Ah/UmEe
Note that Ent is how the word Ain't would sound pronounced phonetically.
TEST TWO
Second verse, same as the first...
Any questions?
EDIT:
More Yorkshire words / phrases with the English definition afterwords...
bad 'un -- no good
bagsey -- childhood term 'bagsey my turn'
bairn -- child
bap -- bread bun
blubbering -- crying
be reight -- it'll be alright
best y'do -- see that you do
bonny -- pretty
bray / braying -- i'll beat you / you'll get a beating
butty -- hot filled sandwich
sarnie -- sandwich
cack handed -- left handed
chucking up -- being sick
chunter -- grumble
chuffed -- pleased
chuddy -- chewing gum
clout -- slap
daft as a brush -- stupid
dale -- valley
down't -- down the (road)
faffing -- messing about
famished -- starving
flippin 'eck -- expression of surprise
flummoxed -- confused
friggin' -- a curse
gaffer -- boss
gi'over -- stop it
gormless -- stupid
jammy -- very lucky
jiggered -- very tired
kidding -- joking
lass -- girl
lad -- boy
manky -- unpleasant (usually taste or looking)
middling -- average
monk on -- grumpy
now then -- hello
oh aye -- really?
'ow do -- how do you do / how are you
owt -- anything
reeks -- smells bad
reet -- right
sh'in't in -- she isn't in (also h'in't in)
snicket -- small alleyway
sprog -- child
ta - thanks
tarra -- bye
arse over tit -- head over heels
couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery --- badly organised // useless
neither use nor ornament -- useless person / object
Obviously, any written text is going to be in standard English, it's only when speaking that colloquialisms come to the fore (thankfully) so here are a few basic rules for 'speaking' in a North Yorkshire dialect.
Firstly, and most importantly, we love our glottal stops a ridiculous amount. For example; standard English might say:
I am going to school.
Whereas a glottal stop would take out the 'o' in 'to' and turn that into one word with a harsh break in the middle:
I am going t'school.
Or:
One of the men.
Becomes:
One o'men
This is a blanket rule, and applies generally for 'of', 'to' and 'the'. However, this rule now gets more complicated as these words are often emitted from certain sentences altogether. For example; standard English might say:
Catch the ball, then.
Whereas in North Yorkshire 'the' would be taken out completely, with perhaps the barest hint of a glottal stop before ball:
Catch 'ball, then.
Generally, if the word 'the' is in the middle of the sentence: 'Going to THE shops' or 'Variety is THE spice of life' then the word is omitted completely. If the word 'the' is at the start of the sentence then it is shortened to a glottal stop: 'Th'brother and sister' or 'Th'wedding bells chimed.'.
TEST ONE:
In a comment, reorder the following 5 phrases from standard English, to spoken North Yorkshire dialect.
- Where's the lamp?
- The maypole was raised at the end of the month.
- Get me a cup of tea.
- There's the barrister.
- Come to the sweetshop.
Now there's the word replacement, which happens in one major case. 'Going' will often become 'off'.
So in standard English it would be:
I am going to the shops.
Then in a Northern dialect it would be:
I am off t'shops.
Those are a few of the basic speaking grammar rules of a North Yorkshire dialect, but now we come to the whole other words. The colloquialisms that go beyond the blanket ones of translating American-English to English-English (e.g. sidewalk/pavement or pants/trousers). I can by no means provide a complete list, but I've tried to give as many of the more common ones as I can think of (ones I would say most days, if not all the time):
STANDARDYORKSHIREYesAyeCup ofCuppaRiver/StreamBeckHotMithering / MitheredColdNithering / NitheredReally HotBreeding maggotsStop whiningThar's neither nowt ner summatSomethingSummatNothingNowtThatTharIsn't/Aren'tAin't (Ent)MyMeOh my GodEe Bah GumOh/Ah/UmEe
Note that Ent is how the word Ain't would sound pronounced phonetically.
TEST TWO
Second verse, same as the first...
- I am really hot today
- That papercut is nothing to whine about
- I aren't happy with this essay.
- Who's cup of tea is that on the table?
- Get off my lawn, and go paddle in the river instead.
Any questions?
EDIT:
More Yorkshire words / phrases with the English definition afterwords...
bad 'un -- no good
bagsey -- childhood term 'bagsey my turn'
bairn -- child
bap -- bread bun
blubbering -- crying
be reight -- it'll be alright
best y'do -- see that you do
bonny -- pretty
bray / braying -- i'll beat you / you'll get a beating
butty -- hot filled sandwich
sarnie -- sandwich
cack handed -- left handed
chucking up -- being sick
chunter -- grumble
chuffed -- pleased
chuddy -- chewing gum
clout -- slap
daft as a brush -- stupid
dale -- valley
down't -- down the (road)
faffing -- messing about
famished -- starving
flippin 'eck -- expression of surprise
flummoxed -- confused
friggin' -- a curse
gaffer -- boss
gi'over -- stop it
gormless -- stupid
jammy -- very lucky
jiggered -- very tired
kidding -- joking
lass -- girl
lad -- boy
manky -- unpleasant (usually taste or looking)
middling -- average
monk on -- grumpy
now then -- hello
oh aye -- really?
'ow do -- how do you do / how are you
owt -- anything
reeks -- smells bad
reet -- right
sh'in't in -- she isn't in (also h'in't in)
snicket -- small alleyway
sprog -- child
ta - thanks
tarra -- bye
arse over tit -- head over heels
couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery --- badly organised // useless
neither use nor ornament -- useless person / object